Device and method to store product information

ABSTRACT

A device and a method are provided for receiving items of product information over a satellite digital audio radio (SDAR) network and locally storing the information therein. A mobile device is provided that comprises a control section and mobile information storage in electrical communication with the control section. The control section is adapted to communicate the items of product information received over the SDAR network to said mobile information storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/029,144, filed Jan. 4, 2005.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a system and method fortransferring and storing information over a wireless medium and morespecifically to a system and method for transferring and storing productinformation to a mobile environment utilizing satellite technology.

BACKGROUND

In our mobile society, there is a demand for mobile communication thatallows a person to roam freely while maintaining the ability to send,receive, and access information from many locations. A wide range ofwireless systems are in use today and more are now scheduled forimminent future deployment.

Examples of conventional wireless devices commonly found in vehiclesinclude AM/FM radios, television receivers, satellite digital audioradio service (SDARS) receivers, global positioning system (GPS) devicesand other wireless receivers. In today's mobile environment, manyconsumers rely on these and other modern technologies to efficientlyaccomplish tasks that once required additional forethought andpre-planning. More specifically, consumers have increasingly relied onsatellite technology due to its added advantages.

For example, a service is currently offered (using GPS technology) thatpresents users with step-by-step directions that guide them along anefficient route to reach a specific destination based on their trackedposition, and, services even provide an indication, or warning, when theuser strays from their designated course. Other consumers havesubscribed to satellite radio (SDARS technology) primarily for aconsistently high quality signal that is made available using digitaltechnology. Not only does the digital signal provide a clearer, crisperaudio output, it often carries with it information that describes andclassifies the contents therein. For example, some receivers display thetitle, author, and the like of music playing on the receiver.

Satellite radio is additionally preferred in regions where traditionalradio transmissions are unavailable due to limitations resulting fromthe surrounding geographical environment. Satellite radio, as comparedto conventional AM/FM radio is provided substantially free fromon-air/audio advertisements, i.e. commercials, or the like. Currently,however, satellite radio subscribers must pay a premium to subscribe to,or access, the service.

SUMMARY

A device and a method are provided for receiving items of productinformation over a satellite digital audio radio (SDAR) network andlocally storing the information therein. A mobile device is providedthat comprises a control section and mobile information storage inelectrical communication with the control section. The control sectionis adapted to communicate the items of product information received overthe SDAR network to said mobile information storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of the presentapparatus and method and are a part of the specification. Theillustrated embodiments are merely examples of the present apparatus andmethod and do not limit the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic depiction of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is another diagrammatic depiction of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a stationary devicein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a mobile device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a front view of a user interface, according to an embodimentof the present system;

FIG. 5B is a front view of another user interface, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates a first method in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a flowchart that illustrates a second method in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a flowchart that illustrates a third method in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart that illustrates a fourth method in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary product review system described herein may be used withvarious wireless systems, for example, among others, satellite radiosystems. In this example, the product review system provides a mobiledevice that locally stores and presents up-to-date product informationto an operator utilizing some of the communication methods that exist insatellite systems. It should be noted that, for purposes of theembodiments disclosed herein, instead of locally storing and presentingonly product information to the user, the embodiments disclosed hereinmay be used to locally store and present any information to the user.Such information is not limited to, but may include items such as therestaurant reviews, movie reviews or the like. For clarity, however,some examples relating to sports and movie reviews are used inconnection with the embodiments described below. Such description is notintended to limit the embodiments to only such reviews.

An embodiment of the product review system 10 of the present invention,as illustrated in FIG. 1, will first be discussed using a satellite as a“bent elbow” to facilitate the transfer of a digital signal. Anexemplary application of a movie review system will then be discussed,explaining how information storage systems may be utilized incombination with wireless communication systems, and further how theinformation storage systems are updated. An exemplary refresh algorithmused by an exemplary product review system will then be described,showing the procedural operation of such a review system.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present system and method. It will be apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the present method and apparatusmay be practiced without these specific details. Reference in thespecification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Theappearance of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a product review system 10 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated system 10includes a stationary device 20 and a mobile device 30 that areconnected to each other through a communication network 40. Here, thecommunication network 40 includes a satellite 45 that performsinformation transmission using a communication protocol such as the oneused in satellite communication (for example, SDARS (satellite digitalaudio radio service) and the like).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a configuration of thestationary device 20. The stationary device 20 includes a controlsection 50, a program control section 60, an information storage 70, acommunication device 80 such as an antenna that connects the stationarydevice 20 to the communication network 40 to control informationcommunications between the stationary device 20 and the mobile device30.

The information storage 70 of the stationary device 20 includes arewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, a flash memory andvarious kinds of storage media, or a storage medium and stores items ofinformation provided to the mobile device 30 that is updated asrequired. Similarly, the program control section 60 includes a storagedevice such as a hard disk, a semiconductor storage device or the like,and stores at least an operation program for the stationary device 20.

The control section 50 of the stationary device 20 includes, forexample, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the stationarydevice 20 and executes operations or programs included in the programcontrol section 60, such as, transmitting information contained in theinformation storage 70 to the mobile device 30 using the communicationsnetwork 40.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobiledevice 30. Mobile device 30 includes a control section 90, a programcontrol section 100, a mobile information storage 110, an interfacesection 120, and a communication control section 130.

The control section 90 of the mobile device 30 includes, for example, aCPU (Central Processing Unit) that implements each process to bedescribed later by executing an operation stored in the program controlsection 100.

The communications control section 130 of the mobile device 30 includesa communications apparatus (including a circuit, module, etc.) having,for example, an antenna, to connect the mobile device 30 to thecommunication network 40 and perform information communication with thestationary device 20.

Mobile information storage 110 of the mobile device 30 includes arewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, a flash memory andvarious kinds of storage media, or a storage medium. The mobileinformation storage 110 is adapted to retain the product information andreviews transferred to it from the stationary device 20.

The program control section 100 of the mobile device 30 includes arewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, an EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash memoryand various kinds of storage media, or a storage medium, and records anoperation program (a program for storing and accessing the productinformation stored on mobile information storage 70 and the like).

The interface section 120 of the mobile device 30 includes an inputsection 150 and an output section 160. With reference to FIGS. 5A and5B, the interface section 120 may employ conventional radio structure.

With reference to the FIGS. 4, 5A, and 5B, the input section 150 of theinterface 120 includes a device selection 170, a channel tuner 180,seek/scan 190, forward and reverse inputs 195, 197, and volume control200. The output section 160 is at least configured to displayinformation to an operator using a display device 175′, 175″. Thus, anembodiment of an output section 160 includes a display device 175′,175″. In FIG. 5A the display 175′ is a digital display. Other mechanismssuch as liquid crystal displays (LCD), light emitting diodes (LED),digital displays or the like may be used as an output device in theoutput section 160. In this embodiment, the product review is textuallydisplayed.

FIG. 5B illustrates another embodiment of the interface section 120wherein a graphical user interface (GUI) is used as the display device175″, illustrated as a video display device. The video display device isadapted to display, among other things, video-clips, still pictures,alpha-numeric characters, and the like. Thus, for example the videodisplay device may further be connected to a DVD playing device orincorporated as part of a GPS navigation unit.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the mobile device 30 furtherincludes an information button 210 to activate the interface section 120of the mobile device 30. Upon request from, for example, the informationbutton 210, the interface section 120, the communication control section130, or the program control section 100, the control section 90 executesan operation to access the mobile information storage 110 and therebydisplay the requested information upon the output section 160 of theinterface section 120. Thus, for example, a movie review or clip isdisplayed upon the video display device 175″. The movie or informationmay be forwarded or reversed using the controls 195, 197 provided on thedevice. Likewise, in another embodiment, the seek/scan button 190 isemployed to toggle through the various movies contained in mobileinformation storage 110. While buttons are herein described, it isobvious that various alternatives may be employed, such as a dial, atouch screen, or other selection means.

One embodiment of the communication network 40 utilizes s broadcastSatellite Digital Audio Radio Service (hereinafter SDARS), such as, forexample, of the type used commercially by XM RADIO™. SDARS operates inthe 2.3 GHz S-band or, more specifically, substantially between 2320 to2345 MHz. In the United States, SDARS communication is currently beingutilized for transmitting satellite radio signals and may be utilized bythe present invention; however, other satellite communication methodscapable of transmitting and/or broadcasting packetized digital data areadditionally foreseen and may be substituted therefor.

As in conventional satellite communication systems, at least oneterrestrial repeater (not shown) may be used to receive and retransmitthe satellite signals to facilitate reliable reception/transmission ingeographic areas where reception from satellites is obscured by tallbuildings in downtown areas, mountains, tunnels, weather and electricalinterference, and other similar obstructions. The communication controlsection 130 of the mobile device 30 is therefore designed to receive oneor both of the signals from the satellite or the terrestrial repeatersand to combine, or to select at least one of, the signals to generatethe appropriate receiver output.

In one embodiment, the signals are conventionally packeted, transmitted,and received. Thus, for example, in the XM RADIO™ application, thestationary device 20 and the mobile device 30 include an encoder toperform an analog to digital conversion, or compression. The encodedchannels are then combined in a multiplexer using time divisionmultiplexing techniques. Next, the data may be further encoded usingViterbi, Reed-Solomon algorithms, or the like. These common algorithmsare currently used to encrypt data in many digital communication systemsincluding automatic teller machines, mobile phones, wireless LANs, xDSL,and many satellite services. The digital stream, next is transmitted tothe satellite which modulates the data onto a radio-frequency (RF)carrier using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation in theX-Band (7.025-7.075 GHz). The data from the satellites is next broadcastdown to the mobile receiver in the S-Band and decoded using signal powerestimations, passed through a demodulator, and finally demuxed.

Conventional satellite systems currently employ various methods todecipher, decode and thereby separate, characterize, and categorize theinformation received at the unit, based on information contained in theheader of the signal. In the present invention, the mobile device 30 isconfigured to first decipher whether the information received by thecommunication control section 130 contains information or is an audiosignal. In accordance with this, an embodiment of the present inventioncharacterizes the signal based on the header information containedtherein. Thereupon, if the signal is characterized as an informationalsignal, the signal is communicated to the control section 90. Based onfurther information contained within the signal, the control section 90determines whether to present this information to the interface section120, or write the information into the mobile information storage 110 orthe program control section 100.

The items of information stored at mobile information storage 110 andthe program control section 100 may be static or dynamic. That is, inthe static environment once the information is communicated to therespective section 100, 110 from the control section 90, it is notremovable and may only be read therefrom. (i.e. read only memory (ROM))On the other hand, in the dynamic environment such information may beupdated, by example, upon one of the following: command from thestationary device 20, command from information contained in the receivedsignal, or command from the control section 90. Thus, dynamicinformation may be changed, or refreshed. As movies, and other productschange, the product review system will then update the information toreflect such changes to allow users the most current information.

In one embodiment, the information storage method for writinginformation into the mobile information storage 110 is an en-masseupdate. That, is, all or most of the items of information are placedinto mobile information storage 110 for a specified or pre-definedperiod of time, and, subsequently, overwritten by newer informationbroadcast from the stationary device 30.

In another embodiment, items of the information are written or updatedinto the mobile information storage 110 using the first-in, first-outmemory (FIFO) storage method. That is, the least recent items ofinformation in local information storage 110 are replaced with the morerecent items. This storage method, in the context of movie or productreviews, ensures that the older movies, or products, are first writtenover, or first updated. Each movie or each product are represented as anitem. Methods such as this allow the product information to beintermittently updated to avoid some of the conventional problems thatarise with large updates, namely long download times. In even anotherembodiment flags or markers may be attached to the header of the signalto index or identify the item of information, so that the controlsection 30 may prioritize the replacement of the information, and deleteor replace the information with more current information. Mobilinformation storage 110 is included to at least allow the user tolocally retrieve information and avoid a lag period or downtime thatoften results from accessing information over a wireless communicationnetwork 40.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the stationary device 20 isfurther adapted to deliver, among other possibilities, promotionalmaterials, various types of product information, entertainmentinformation, or the like to the communication control section 130 ofmobile device 30. The category, type, style, and substance oftransmitted information may be standardized among every operatorconnected to the communication network 40 and the stationary device 20.However, each item of information may, instead, be targeted to specificmobile devices 30 by applying various filters. For example, a geographicfilter may be provided that is designed to narrow the information storedin or presented at the mobile device 20 within a designated area. Otherfilters based on other known data may be additionally provided. Some ofthese filters will be described in detail below.

In another embodiment, a mobile device 30 is targeted withparticularized information. This targeted mobile device 30 is chosenaccording to the particularized interests of the user. Theseparticularized interests may be dynamically determined according toalgorithms known to the system 10 herein described, or alternatively,those known generally in the art.

With reference to FIG. 6, a method that is implemented either by thestationary device 20 or the mobile device 30 is disclosed. Either device20, 30 is adapted to substantially continuously poll the mobile device30 to determine which channels or information are or have been accessedby the operator in step S6.10. Next, the control section 90 updates toreflect which channels that the operator previously indexed or hasaccessed in step S6.20. For example, where the device is employed insatellite radios, the type of transmissions frequently accessed, i.e.genre/artist, generally presents an indication of operator interest. Ifa channel selection has been made in step S6.25, market data andconsumer trends are then used to generate a directed search among theinformation in the mobile information storage 110 or the informationstorage 70 of the stationary device 20 in accordance with the particularaccessed channels or access items of information in step S6.30. An ad isformulated in step S6.40, wherein the ad is either broadcast by thecommunication device 80 of the stationary device 20 to the appropriatemobile device 30 or indexed by the control section 50 of the mobiledevice 30. The control section 90 then passes the item of information tothe output section 160 where it is output in step S6.50 for display on adisplay device 175′, 175″. Thus, for illustrative purposes, if alistener spends a majority of his time listening to sports events,either device 20, 30 may highlight such and particularize or filter theinformation and target such to that specific mobile device 20,30. Itshould be noted that either device 20, 30 may search for promotionalitems within the information storage 70, 110 that align with thispotential interest, for example, sports paraphernalia.

In an embodiment, the stationary device 20 or the mobile device 30 mayindex and store subscriber specific identification with particularizeddata accorded to such. Another embodiment, defines a subset of userpreference profiles among each device or indexes sub-subscriber specificidentification since the device will often be under the direction of avariety of operators each having unique interests. For example, eachoperator may have their own unique identification code provided to themby the particular device which is later indexed in the system.

With reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 7A, another method practiced in anembodiment of the present invention is illustrated and described. In anembodiment, the product review system 10 filters the information beforepresenting such to the interface section 120 of the mobile device 30according to the location, or position of the mobile device 30. In thisembodiment, the mobile device 30 further includes, or is adapted tocommunicate with a GPS module 220. GPS module 220 is designed to engageor connect to a GPS satellite in step S7.10 as illustrated in phantom inFIG. 3. The GPS module 220 processes data transmitted to it from the GPSsatellite to substantially determine the current position and heading ofthe mobile device 30 in terms of latitude and longitude in step 7.20,wherein latitude is positive north of the equator and longitude ispositive east. The GPS module 220 also determines the current heading interms of azimuth, with the positive direction being clockwise relativeto zero degrees north. Once the GPS information has been processed todetermine the current position and heading of the vehicle, thisinformation is then passed in step S7.30 to the control section 90.However, in an embodiment, this feature may be switched on or off toavoid privacy and security concerns due to geographical positioningsystems (shown in phantom at step S7.05). In another embodiment, theoperator may manually provide the locational data. Such a process isillustrated in FIG. 7B. In this embodiment position of the mobile device30 is determined using a location identification input feature in stepS7.20′. While various ways exist to accomplish this, one method of thecurrent invention manually indexes the location using a zip code or areacode provided from the operator.

Once a location of mobile device 30 is either identified or provided,the control section 90 correlates the location of the mobile device 30with the items of information contained in information storage in stepS8.40. In this embodiment, the information may be tailored to onlydisplay items or locations within a certain distance from the mobiledevice 30. Thus, for example, movie theatres within a certain vicinityor region surrounding the mobile device 30 will be presented to theinterface section 120.

In yet another embodiment, as referenced in phantom in FIGS. 4, 7A, and7B the control section 90 of the mobile device 30 may further utilize atemporal filter to determine which products or items to promote in termsof their current availability in step S7.50. For example, in oneembodiment, the mobile device 30 may indicate which movie theatres arepresently open, which movies are presently playing, and, even, theirdistance, or the estimated time of arrival to such. Thus, in this form,the device omits the movie theatres that are presently closed and/oroutside the location.

In even another embodiment, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 8, the inputsection 160 of the interface section 120 of the mobile device 30provides an input prompt to allow the operator to customize a searchupon the items of information stored in the mobile information storage110. In this embodiment, for illustrative purposes, the user inputs asearch query in step S8.10. The input methods to accomplish this stepare generally known in the art. (i.e. smart keys, pre-defined searchterms, keyboard or the like.) As the input is collected the inputsection 160 then passes the inputted terms in step S8.20 to the controlsection 90. The control section 90 next implements a search by queryingthe mobile information storage 110 for relevant items of informationpertaining to the entered search terms in step S8.30. Thereupon, thecontrol section 90 returns an appropriate match in step S8.40 to theoutput section 160, specifically the display device 175′, 175″. Forexample, a user who inputs a particular movie into the search query willreceive a list of local movie theatres. The device, then, uponadditional focused inquiries by the operator or automatically, providesmovie times, availability, and movie theatre locations within apredefined area. Moreover, if the display device is a video displaydevice the mobile device 30 is adapted to optionally provide at least apreview of the defined movie.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be preferredembodiments of the present invention, it is understood that variousmodifications may be made therein and that the invention may beimplemented in various forms and embodiments, and that it may be appliedin numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein.It is intended by the following claims to claim all such modificationsand variations which fall within the true scope of the invention.

1. A method for generating advertisements on a mobile device in achanneled satellite digital audio radio (SDAR) network, said methodscomprising the steps of: providing a mobile device having a controlsection; providing a local information storage having at least one itemof product information, said local information storage connected to saidcontrol section; surveying said mobile device to determine an operatorchannel preference; and querying said at least one item to match one ofat least one items of product information with said operator channelpreference.
 2. The method for generating advertisements as described inclaim 20, further comprising the steps of: providing an output sectionconnected to said control section; and displaying the results of saidquerying step on said output section in the form of an advertisement.